Saxophone Types, Playing, and Techniques

Sassy Saxophone

• Adolphe Sax designed 14 different saxophones, categorized into seven types.
• The seven types are sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, and contrabass.
• Saxophones pitched in F and C were designed for orchestral use, while those in E-flat and B-flat were designed for bands.
• All saxophones have the same keys in the same place, allowing someone to play any type once they know one.
• "Giant Steps" is a celebrated Coltrane jazz composition featuring rapid chord changes.
• Players support the reed with their bottom lip and blow into the mouthpiece while fingering the 20-23 tone holes.
• "Embouchure" is the term for how players use facial muscles and lip shape when blowing into a woodwind instrument.
• With mastery of "embouchure", performers can achieve various sound effects like trilling, slurring and flutter tongue.
• Players can achieve notes one octave above their current note by adapting their throat shape.

The Beatles

• The Beatles were comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr from Liverpool, UK.
• Rising to fame in the 1960s, the Fab Four triggered a musical revolution, which helped set the youth world on fire at the time.

Beatlemania

• The Beatles achieved a frenzy particularly with teenage girl fans who followed them to venues and on the streets.

The Beatles: Musician's Biography

• 1957: John Lennon formed The Quarrymen with school friends, later replaced by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
• 1960: The band renamed themselves The Beatles and shifted to rock-and-roll.
• 1962: Brian Epstein became manager, replacing drummer Pete Best with Ringo Starr and George Martin produced their first single, Love Me Do.
• 1963: The Beatles released their first album, Please Please Me.
• 1964: The Beatles first US tour, greeted with Beatlemania.
• 1970: Paul McCartney left The Beatles, ending the band.

Influences

• The Everly Brothers, Don and Phil, country-influenced rock-and-roll singers with close harmony.
• Buddy Holly, inspired by Elvis Presley, pioneer of rock-and-roll, with The Beatles named after his band, The Crickets.

Sound Systems in the 1960's Reggae Music Era

• Reggae music's reliance on sound systems arose from the inability of most people to afford live musicians which lead to mobile DJs playing parties with sound systems.
• Sound systems consisted of a record player, large speakers and a powerful amplifier
• DJs like Clement Dodd would speak over the music as they playing records in a technique known as "toasting".

Ska as a precursor to Reggae Music

• In Jamaican music, Ska rose out of a fusion of jazz riffs, R&B and mento music in the earl 1960s
• Ska includes off-beat rhythm along with significant bass

Music as a voice for change/ Rocksteady and Rude boy music

• Soul music was combined with Ska during the 1960s era of unrest which lead to the creation of Rocksteady
• Rocksteady commonly incorporated social critiques in its lyrics

Cultural Identity and Roots of Reggae Music

• In 1962, Jamaica gained freedom from British command and a style of Ska known as "rude boy" emerged amongst disenchanted youth
• The self-awareness and roots musicality that Reggae is known for grew out of Rastafarianism and a determination to celebrate African roots in music

The evolution to Reggae

• Studios began to evolve to create the genre known as Reggae featuring "skank" chords and beats
• These beats were achieved using using a drumming style called "nyah-bingi" drumming
•  Reggae lyrics most of the time were played in Jamaican patois, a combination of African, Creole English, Portuguese, Rasta slang and Spanish.

Memorable Musicals

• Musicals mix music, acting, singing, and dancing.
• Musicals evolved from comic light operettas in the late 1800s.
• By the 1940s/1950s, musicals grew more thought-provoking.
• Broadway in New York and London's West End are famous streets for musicals. -The Threepenny Opera, 1928: Music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, satire on postwar capitalism. -Songs: "Mack the Knife.". -Pansori Epic Chant, since 17th century, South Korea Singer and drummer perform together. Singer tells a story through songs, speech, and gestures. -Drummer beats out the rhythm. -Performances can last up to eight hours.
• Anything Goes, 1934: Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, passengers on a cruise liner, and songs include the famous "Anything Goes.".
• Matilda the Musical: music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, based on magic of reading and learning. 99 international awards.
• West Side Story: music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim lyrics, set in New York City in the mid-1950s, and ends badly.
• Cookin' Nanta: South Korean comedy show uses drumbeats, magic, and acrobatics. Takes place in a kitchen where chefs are preparing a banquet..
• Les Misérables: Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, libretto by Alain Boublil, and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, set in France the time of the June Rebellion, and the London production is still running
• Phantom of the Opera: Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, longest-running musical on Broadway and one of the most popular.

Thomas Edison

• In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the cylinder phonograph, the first instrument for recording human sound.
• This new invention led the way for digital downloads, online streaming and other new kinds of technology.

Master's Voice

• "His Master's Voice", featuring a dog named Nipper listening to a gramaphone, was an record label trademark.

Cylinder Phonograph

• Sound was recorded on The Edison tin foil phonograph as indentations of foil wrapped around the device.

John McCormack

• John McCormack (1884-1945) was an Irish Tenor famous for classical and popular song.
• McCormack first gained recognition in 1904 on cylinder phonograph before signing with The Victor Talking Machine Company.

Nora Bayes

• Nora Bayes (1880-1928) was an American singer in World War I
• Her morale-boosting song, "Over There" became an international anthem

Bing Crosby

• Bing Crosby (1903-1977) is most known as the best-selling producer for hit song "White Christmas"
• He was also known for the crooner sound, singing with new microphones created by Bell Labs in 1926

Benny Goodman

• Benny Goodman (1909-1986) was a Clarinet player known for dance music
• Goodman started recording music in the 1920's during a prominent career with radio program, Let's Dance.

Different regional Drums

• Created in 7th century, Japan, Tsuzumi is an hourglass shaped drum played by tapping both ends and adjusting the cords for pitch
• Used by native peoples of North America, the prehistoric Rattle Drum contains dried seeds
• The flat Tabor drums evolved out of Europe around the late 1200's with a crispy percussion great for military use
• Also used in the Middle East for engagements and weddings, the Darbuka is a goblet shaped drum made to be played by hand
• Made in Cuba, the Bango is two individual drums used widely in salsa music of today

Tunable Drums

• Timpani drums evolved in the Middle East during the 13th century containing adjustable pressure to alter the pitch
• 1930's Trinidadian West Indian steel drums play different notes based on the area the drummers strike

Rhythmatic Tools and modern DIY

• Used throughout Africa, Pellets are instruments made of raddles and percussion, often used to attract attention for street markets
• People can create their own drum sets out of empty steel cans by impacting them with varying pressure and impact locations